{"id":53832,"date":"2022-03-25T06:14:49","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T14:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/25\/missouri-bill-would-let-voters-mandate-more-oversight-on-medical-marijuana-revenue-distribution-to-veterans\/"},"modified":"2022-03-25T13:45:58","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T21:45:58","slug":"missouri-bill-would-let-voters-mandate-more-oversight-on-medical-marijuana-revenue-distribution-to-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2022\/03\/25\/missouri-bill-would-let-voters-mandate-more-oversight-on-medical-marijuana-revenue-distribution-to-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"Missouri Bill Would Let Voters Mandate More Oversight On Medical Marijuana Revenue Distribution To Veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I do want to see is some oversight into how those [cannabis tax] funds are distributed.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Joe Mueller, The Center Square<\/strong><\/p>\n

Missouri voters would decide if the disbursement of medical marijuana tax revenue should remain with the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) or be transferred to the General Assembly under a proposal in the legislature.<\/p>\n

House Joint Resolution 142, sponsored by Rep. Jason Chipman (R), would give voters a chance to change Article XIV in the Missouri Constitution. In November 2018, 66 percent of Missouri voters approved Amendment 2 to legalize the medical use of cannabis. The ballot language stated the amendment would \u201cimpose a four percent tax on the retail sale of marijuana for medical purposes by dispensary facilities. The funds from the license fees and tax will be used by the Missouri Veterans Commission for health and care services for military veterans, and by the Department of Health and Senior Services to administer the program to license\/certify and regulate marijuana and marijuana facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chipman told the House Veterans Committee his amendment is necessary as it properly aligns the legislature\u2019s appropriation authority with the Missouri Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I want to do is put some oversight into the department that oversees the program over DHSS,\u201d Chipman said. \u201cThe legislature has the power of the purse and the way this was written, it completely skips by the legislature and there\u2019s no oversight of the department in regards to how they function and regulate this industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chipman\u2019s resolution<\/a> calls for DHSS\u2019 administrative costs to be limited to two percent of all medical marijuana taxes and fees but said it would be amended after discussions with the director and legal counsel for the state\u2019s medical marijuana program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have no intent on changing the industry itself, the structure that they have set up, and I definitely don\u2019t have any intention on changing the money that goes to the veterans,\u201d Chipman said<\/a>. \u201cBut what I do want to see is some oversight into how those funds are distributed to the department to administer the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Tim Taylor (R) questioned the necessity of legislative oversight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose people who know the best things to be done for our veterans are doing that now,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cBy putting us in the way, we would just be adding one more rung in the ladder of bureaucracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyndall Fraker, a former state representative and the state\u2019s medical marijuana program director, testified that the department welcomes oversight. He said the constitutional amendment required all overhead costs to be taken from the sales tax revenue. He estimated $10.5 million in tax revenue was collected on $260 million in sales, in addition to revenue from other fees associated with licensing and applications. He projected the Veterans Commission would receive $27 million during the first two years of sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do have oversight now,\u201d Fraker said. \u201cWe have to go before the budget committee. The funding is dedicated, but they approve how much we transfer to the veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chipman\u2019s resolution also expands the disbursements to include suicide prevention and construction of additional veterans homes.<\/p>\n

\n

This story was first published by The Center Square.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

U.S. Senate Unanimously Approves Marijuana Reform Bill On Same Day That House Schedules Legalization Vote<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The post Missouri Bill Would Let Voters Mandate More Oversight On Medical Marijuana Revenue Distribution To Veterans<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: Missouri Bill Would Let Voters Mandate More Oversight On Medical Marijuana Revenue Distribution To Veterans<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhat I do want to see is some oversight into how those [cannabis tax] funds are distributed.\u201d By Joe Mueller, The Center Square Missouri voters would decide if the disbursement of medical marijuana tax revenue should remain with the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) or be transferred toContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53832"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53833,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53832\/revisions\/53833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}